Epic Games v. Apple

Did You Know?

• Apple filed an appeal in October 2021 seeking to overturn the anti-steering injunction, claiming it was no longer necessary due to a settlement from a separate lawsuit, Cameron v. Apple, completed in August 2021.
• The Ninth Circuit issued a stay on the portion of Judge Rogers's order requiring in-app links to alternate payment systems on December 8, 2021, ruling that Apple had shown likelihood to succeed on appeal.

Background

Since 2015, Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney questioned the 30% revenue sharing cut taken by digital storefronts such as Valve's Steam, Apple's App Store, and Google Play, arguing that an 8% cut should be sufficient for profitable operation. He stated that higher revenue shares made sense on consoles due to hardware investment and marketing campaigns, but not on open platforms like mobile devices and personal computers. Epic created the Epic Games Store with a 12% commission rate to demonstrate that a lower percentage was viable.

Onset of legal action

Epic planned a course of action over several months before August 2020, codenamed Project Liberty, aimed at forcing Apple and Google to alter their store policies or face legal action. Epic introduced a standard patch to Fortnite that was approved by Apple and Google but secretly contained code enabling users to purchase V-Bucks directly from Epic. On August 13, 2020, Epic released a hotfix that made this purchasing option visible, and announced a 20% discount on V-Bucks purchased directly through Epic, stating the discount could not be extended through Apple or Google due to their 30% revenue cut.

Within hours, both Apple and Google removed Fortnite from their storefronts for violating terms of service. Epic immediately filed separate lawsuits against Apple and Google in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, represented by Cravath, Swaine & Moore, with Katherine B. Forrest and Christine A. Varney. Apple was represented by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partner Mark Perry.

District court

At the first hearing on September 28, 2020, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers appeared likely to deny Epic's demand to require Apple to rehost Fortnite unless Epic conformed to App Store policy, but was ready to maintain a restraining order related to the Unreal Engine and Epic's developer accounts. She indicated favor for a jury trial, stating it was important to understand what real people think about security issues and developer concerns. Both parties later argued for a bench trial, and Judge Rogers agreed, scheduling a bench trial for May 2021.

In October 2020, she denied Epic's request for a temporary injunction to allow Fortnite with Epic's storefront but made permanent the injunction preventing Apple from terminating Epic's developer accounts for the Unreal Engine. Rogers noted that a key aspect would be Epic's contention that the App Store is unique and its arguments about antitrust behavior limited to the App Store, not other closed systems like Xbox Live, PlayStation Store, or Nintendo eShop, stating that a final decision should be better informed about the impact of the walled garden model given potential ramifications for Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft.

Facebook stated in December 2020 it would fully support Epic during discovery, sharing its own information from prior conflicts with Apple.

Related actions

In December 2020, Epic filed separate complaints against Apple and Google in the United Kingdom's Competition Appeal Tribunal, with similar charges as in the U.S. cases, and also launched legal action in Australia and the European Union. On February 22, 2021, the UK tribunal rejected Epic's lawsuit against Apple but allowed its case against Google to proceed; Epic stated it would reconsider pursuing the UK Apple lawsuit after the U.S. case resolved.

In Australia, Judge Nye Perram ordered a three-month stay on Epic's lawsuit against Apple on April 9, 2021, which would become permanent if Epic did not file under Australian Consumer Law within that time; Epic appealed and was granted a ruling in July 2021 allowing the case to proceed. Epic's Australian suit against Apple was combined with a similar suit against Google and two class actions by app developers, and in August 2025, justice Jonathan Beach found Apple and Google in violation of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

Epic acquired Bandcamp in March 2022, which allowed music creators to sell with a 10–15% revenue split. Google responded with a Media Experience Program offering a 10% cut for media apps with appropriate integration. By May 2022, an agreement allowed Bandcamp to continue using its in-app purchasing system while retaining the 10% fee in escrow until the case concludes.